Bill McBirnie


Bill McBirnie is a Juno Award-nominated and widely acclaimed jazz/Latin flautist, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was raised in the small town of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada.
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Career

He studied with Canadian flautist and composer Robert Aitken, American classical flautist Samuel Baron, and Cuban charanga legend Richard Egües.
He has recorded several albums under his own name. He has also recorded extensively as a sideman, including albums with Junior Mance, Irakere, Four80East, Memo Acevedo, and Emilie-Claire Barlow.
In an educational vein, he has been a longstanding contributor to the Woodwinds Column of the Canadian Musician magazine and, in addition, he was recruited personally by Sir James Galway to serve as his resident jazz flute specialist. He is also author of the book, The Technique and Theory of Improvisation: A practical guide for flutists, doublers, and other instrumentalists.

Awards and honors

The Silent Wish, was nominated for a Juno Award as Best Instrumental Album of the Year in 2020.
McBirnie was featured with Four80East in the #1 Billboard magazine Smooth Jazz hit, "Cinco Cinco Seis", in 2019. He was again featured by Four80East in the subsequent Billboard magazine hit, "Ba Ba Brazil", in 2020.
Find You Place won the Vox Pop award in the Jazz Instrumental category at the 14th Annual Independent Music Awards in the US in 2016.
Grain of Sand won the Best Instrumental album category at the Toronto Independent Music Awards in 2016.
The venerable American flute maker, William S. Haynes Flute Company, designated McBirnie a Haynes Artist in 2013.
Mercy was nominated in the Best Jazz Album category at the Independent Music Awards in the US in 2011.
Mercy also won in the Best Jazz Album category at the Toronto Independent Music Awards in 2010.
McBirnie was named Flutist of the Year by the Jazz Report Awards in 1999, and nominated as both Miscellaneous Instrumentalist of the Year and Best Album for "Paco Paco" at the National Jazz Awards in 2007.
McBirnie was solicited personally by Sir James Galway to serve as the resident Jazz Flute Specialist at his official website in 2005.
He is the only flutist to have won all three of the US National Flute Association's jazz flute Masterclass, Big Band and Soloist Competitions.

Discography

As leader

  • 1998 Desvio with Bruce Jones
  • 2002 Scratch It!
  • 2003 Nature Boy with Mark Eisenman
  • 2006 Paco Paco with Bernie Senensky
  • 2010 Mercy with Robi Botos
  • 2013 Find Your Place with Bernie Senensky
  • 2015 Grain of Sand with Bruce Jones
  • 2018 The Silent Wish with Bernie Senensky
  • 2021 Forever with Bruce Jones
  • 2024 ''Reflections''

As sideman